


take me down to party city (where the wigs are cheap and the boys are pretty)

by wrenlans (honeyandjam)



Category: ATEEZ (Band), ONF (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Alternate Universe - Party City, Attempt at Humor, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Halloween Costumes, Idiots in Love, M/M, Making Out, Meet-Cute, Pining, Romantic face painting, all meet-cute and no meat, it's literally all in party city, split second hyoj
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28452801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyandjam/pseuds/wrenlans
Summary: "Look at yourself dude." Yunho shoves his phone in Wooyoung's face, where he eyes his reflection on the black screen, red paint smudged all over his lips. "You look like you just ate out Elmo."Wooyoung makes a strangled noise. "Why would you say that? You're disgusting!""More disgusting than the person caught grinding on a random in the backroom of Party City?" Yunho throws a wet wipe on Wooyoung's face before walking out. "Get it together Wooyoung.""He's not a random..." Wooyoung whines to no one but himself as he reluctantly wipes at his kissed-red mouth.
Relationships: Jung Wooyoung/Shim Jaeyoung | Wyatt
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	take me down to party city (where the wigs are cheap and the boys are pretty)

"Thanks for shopping at Party City! Have a great day!" Wooyoung smiles, beaming and waving at the latest group of teenagers taking advantage of Halloween sales. As soon as they walk out the door he spins around and claws at his co-worker, Yunho. 

"Ugh how has it only been half an hour?" He whines, shaking Yunho as hard as he can before Yunho is finally able to tear Wooyoung off of him. 

"You're complaining like you're not the one who switched to this shift." 

"Yeah, but San asked me, so of course I had to..."

Yunho rolls his eyes, brushing off the non-existent dirt Wooyoung got on him just to spite him. 

"Wow that's so sweet! when's the wedding?" He drones, voice laced with sarcasm. 

It's Wooyoung's turn to roll his eyes. Like he hasn't heard that one a million times before. 

"For the last time, Sannie and I aren't, and will never be a thing." 

"You guys would die for each other, you're practically soulmates." Yunho pauses to make big quotation marks. "Thing" is just a formality, a title. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, no?" Yunho finishes with a flourish, waving jazz hands at Wooyoung, who is not amused. 

"Yeah, I love him, and yeah, we're probably gonna die together doing something stupid, but like...I don't know... I just... I can't see myself being romantic with him. Like he's great, but I think...we've been so close for so long as friends that I can't even see him any other way..." Wooyoung trails off as he gets lost in his thoughts, almost completely forgetting that Yunho's right in front of him until he finally registers Yunho's exasperated voice still talking. 

"Sorry what?" 

"Ugh, beggars can't be choosers, Wooyoung. What kind of guy do you even want?" 

Wooyoung leans back on the counter, face a mix between a grimace and a pout. He's never really thought about it to be honest.

"I dunno....I guess someone with more muscles? A deeper voice? Strong and dark-eyed? Ah, I don't know." He ends with a shrug. Love hasn't really been high on his list of priorities right now. 

Yunho opens his mouth, probably about to roast his choice in aesthetics before their manager pops out around the corner and urges Yunho to follow her. Yunho still manages to shake his head disapprovingly in Wooyoung's direction, and Wooyoung has to hold himself back from flipping the bird. Ugh, why did he take the stupid Saturday shift? He might as well keep himself busy, and goes to check up on and clean up the change rooms. 

He spends more time styling his hair in the mirror than actually cleaning up, but it's not like there's a huge mess in there anyway. All he has are bits and pieces of loose clothing here and there that he has to sort through. He's passing through aisle 4 when he suddenly gets knocked over. He stumbles, swaying dangerously to the right before throwing his arms out to steady himself. However, that means that he just dropped all his neatly folded clothes. Wooyoung's struggles truly never end. He kneels over to pick up the crumpled and messy pile of clothes before bumping his head. Worst shift of his entire- 

"Oh my God dude, I am so, super sorry, I should've been looking where I was going I can't believe this I'm so sorry." A deep voice rings out.

Wooyoung's skin immediately prickles. It's even deeper than Yunho's voice, and that's no easy feat. It's like he's speaking from a cave. Wooyoung immediately shoots his head up and comes face to face with Adonis in human form. He's shitting himself. Is this what happens when Wooyoung talks about his love life? Is God/fate/random eldritch being going to place exactly what he wants right in front of him straight afterwards? God damn he should really start talking about it more then. 

They both stand up at the same time. He realizes that they're both pretty much the same height, the other just a teeny bit taller. He has dirty blond hair, falling across his eyes, one double-lidded and the other single, giving him a strange, permanent, cocked eyebrow look. Somehow it's not the stand-out feature, as Wooyoung takes in what the other is wearing. Rambo? Mechanic? Steampunk Rambo? Wooyoung can't make head or tails on what the guy is wearing. He seems like he's from a different dimension where sane fashion sense has died off. He only looks good in it because he looks good full stop. The guy could probably be wearing a trash bag and still pull it off. He notices that Asian Han Solo is looking at him looking at his outfit and puts a sheepish hand to his head. 

"Oh yeah, I'm uh, oh god this is embarrassing." He chuckles. "I'm very late to a costume party and I don't even have everything yet, so I just came to get something before I go." 

"If you're looking for something, tell me. I don't work here for nothing." Wooyoung finishes with a laugh. His hand twitches at the thought of laying it on the bare bicep in front of him, but it's already been a few seconds since he's spoken, so he leaves it. 

"Yeah I need googles, like the adventurer ones? I hope that makes sense." 

Wooyoung's hands are already up and pointing in the direction that aisle 23, eye accessories and etc are. The man beams at him and Wooyoung laughs again, hand coming up to tuck his long fringe behind his ear. He's hyper-aware of the way he's walking, are his feet too outwards? Too inwards? Is he walking too fast? Too slow? He almost walks past the aisle with how in his head he is before he suddenly stops, lurching forward with inertia. Costume guy ends up slamming into his back and Wooyoung laughs again. 

"No, no it's all good I almost missed the aisle." It comes out higher than Wooyoung planned and he kind of wants to wince. 

He manages to find the googles without further embarrassing himself and watches as the guy tries a few pairs on, before settling for the one Wooyoung hands him, a pair of black imitation aviator googles. 

"Yeah, these are perfect." he says, looking at Wooyoung. 

Wooyoung claps his hands together with a lot more force than necessary, startling some kid looking through a cheap monocular telescope a few feet down. It's the second time Wooyoung's been unable to control his sound output and he's seriously starting to worry what else he's going to let slip to the complete stranger in front of him. The very hot, and exactly Wooyoung's type stranger, but a stranger nonetheless. Without a peep, he points to the cash register with a big dumb grin on his face and briskly walks towards it, scooting to the back to make the transaction. 

"Thanks, that'll be $20.00." How dead would he be if he offered a discount? On the house? Wooyoung's hands are already hovered over the discount button before _he_ speaks. 

"What's your name by the way?" 

"Wooyoung, Jung Wooyoung." He has to physically hold himself back from giving his home address, email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder, Grindr, etc, etc.

"Jung Wooyoung. Wooyoung." Wowie, is that what Wooyoung's name sounds like from him? "I'll write a really good review for you on Google." He nods as he takes the googles from Wooyoung's hands. 

Wooyoung laughs watches as the guy walks away while waving at him, bumping up against a hat rack. Wooyoung laughs again. He's probably laughed more in these 10 minutes than in the entirety of the week. He only realises by the time he gets home that he never even got the other's name, and he screams for a full minute in frustration. 

* * *

Wooyoung only thinks about the interaction once. Every couple of hours. But it quickly settles at the back of his mind like sediment from cheap orange juice, clumping together at the bottom of his brain until his manager suddenly corners him at his next shift and shakes the entire bottle up. 

"Congratulations Wooyoung, someone left a 5-star review on Google and specifically mentioned you." She smiles, but it feels kind of off and Wooyoung isn't sure if that was actually double-speak and he's actually going to get fired. 

"Uhhh" Before he can conjure up a defence, his manager shows him her phone screen and sure enough, right in the reviews section, there's a 5-star rating by some user called 'Wyatt S'. 

"Wyatt? Is that like a white grandpa or something?" Jongho pops out of thin air, looking over Wooyoung's shoulder and trying to read the review aloud.

'10/10 customer service because of the super hot cashier. wait is that considered harassment? ok just to clarify super hot is purely objective. i'm rambling in a google review now but yeah. thank you so much wooyoung!' 

"10/10 was probably ranking you as opposed to actual Party City operations but hey, a customer's a customer." The manager shrugs, awkward smile still plastered on her face as Wooyoung stares at the review, engraving it in his mind's eye. 

Super hot... The words light up his brain like a Christmas tree and his cheeks ache from beaming so hard, but he just can't help it. Him? Super hot? Nawww stop it. Oh Wyatt. He doesn't even notice that Junho has to wrestle their manager's phone from his grip, too lost in his own daydreams.

"Why're you getting so worked up about an old grandpa calling you hot?" Jongho frowns.

"HE'S NOT- he's not old, he was this really cool guy that I helped on Saturday. Our age range." Wooyoung emphasises the last three words.

"There are people our age actually leaving Google reviews?"

Wooyoung shrugs his shoulders in response. "I know right? I thought he was just joking around when he said it to me. Oh well, maybe this just means I'm gonna get employee of the month now." He sticks his tongue out at Jongho.

A horrified expression sweeps across Jongho's face. "Oh God does that mean I have to flirt with cus-eugh customers to keep my title?" 

He spends the rest of the week periodically bringing up the Google review and smiling like an idiot for about 4 hours afterwards, carrying the words in his heart like a bar of gold. 

* * *

Saturday again. Instead of resentment and annoyance, there is now only joy and happiness in Wooyoung's brain. He's barely aware of what aisle he's in, dusting indiscriminately as he re-re-re-redrafts his imaginary date scenario with Wyatt. This time they're playing pool, and Wooyoung's pretending to be so horrendously bad so Wyatt will do that thing where he'll have to put his arms around Wooyoung and lean into his personal space and... Wooyoung's startled out of his fantasies by a hand on his shoulder and he's about to completely abandon retail staff policy and tear the person a new one until he realises who it is. 

"Wyatt!" 

"Holy shit you know my name?" 

All thoughts of playing it cool have done a somersault out of a 40 storey building as he starts laughing again. "Yeah, I saw the review. I don't know who else could've left it." He smiles coyly, brushing his hair back from his face. 

It's here where Wooyoung's eyes finally catch up to his brain and he realises what Wyatt's wearing. His hair is dyed jet black now, shorter fringe barely covering his odd eyes. He rakes down, has to ball his fist when he gets to the white v neck showing off the cleft between Wyatt's pecs and what Wooyoung would give to run his finger up and down that space. And then there's the jacket. That damned jacket. It's your regular, run of the mill standard black blazer, if it weren't for the thousands of silver sequins and silver trimmings covering it like a disco ball. The harsh lighting shimmers and reflects off it and Wooyoung wishes he had a pair of sunglasses to guard his eyes. Yet again Wyatt's fine ass has shown up it what has to be a costume, because no one would unironically wear what he's wearing anywhere, let alone a trip to Party City. Wooyoung would be lying to himself if he said he didn't look good though. 

"Oh yeah, this, I got another costume party to go to." He gestures down at himself. "Michael Jackson themed, I'm just missing the hat and glove." 

"Wow Michael Jackson? In this day and age? Read the room Wyatt." Wooyoung blurts out, laughing all the while. 

God why is he so stupid? Very smooth Wooyoung, implicitly calling Wyatt a tone-deaf idiot. It's not like he actually supports Michael Jackson. Hopefully. 

"Oh nah, wasn't my idea, but a theme's a theme." He trails off in a hesitant laugh. 

"Yeah um, it's- you look good. Really good. Billie Jean right?" Wooyoung rushes out. 

Wyatt nods, looking considerably less flustered. Wooyoung leads the way towards aisle 26 with the hats and it only feels like a few seconds before they've already got everything Wyatt needs and they're at the counter already. Wooyoung desperately wishes he could stall, but the only reason Wyatt would be in costume again is that he's late. He rings up the items and hands them to Wyatt, who looks kind of antsy. Shit, did Wooyoung waste more time than he thought? Oh god, now Wyatt's gonna leave with a bad impression of me and he'll never come back here again and- 

"Legit, thanks so much for your help." Wyatt takes a deep breath. "Hey umm.... Could I get y-" 

Wyatt doesn't get to finish his sentence as the middle-aged white woman behind him pushes him out of the way and Wooyoung is preoccupied with ringing up her armfuls of Halloween decorations. He only gets to see Wyatt shrug and make a sympathetic face before he has to concentrate on scanning all the little skeletons and cobwebs. By the time he looks up, Wyatt is long gone, and so is Wooyoung's heart. 

* * *

The amount of business Halloween brings slams into the medium-sized Party City like a sledgehammer. Wooyoung can barely have time to think about Wyatt when he's running back and forth between the rush of people asking for tacky lawn inflatables and slutty animal costumes. He almost forgets that it's the second week since they quite literally bumped into each other. Wooyoung can't even bear to look at a pair of aviators, at one point tearing up and startling some mom who handed them to him. 

"Don't be so freaking dramatic." Yunho drawls, rolling his eyes once the store stills. 

"Shut up! I just know he was gonna give me his number and then that Karen ruined everything." Wooyoung groans, head thudding against the counter. 

Yunho pats him on the head for comfort, and then messes his hair just to piss him off. He waltzes away before Wooyoung can properly land a hit on him and it's just Wooyoung at the counter, trying in vain to fix his hair. It's impossible without a mirror, and business within the store has stagnated for long enough that Wooyoung doesn't see a problem with going to the change rooms and utilising the mirrors in there. He whips open a closed curtain that someone probably forgot to tie up and- 

"AHHHH!" 

"OOOOH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY LET ME JUST- WYATT?" 

For two fully grown and clothed adults, they sure are uncontrollably shouting for no good reason. Wooyoung waits for his heart to go back down into his chest cavity before speaking, in a considerably softer voice. 

"Wyatt! Wow, I- What are you doing here?" 

Wooyoung knows Wyatt's eyes are up there, but he's having a really hard time remembering the basics of human anatomy when slung around Wyatt's body is a thin black shoulder harness, snaking around his body like ribbons on a Christmas present. The simplicity of the white dress shirt and black tie only seem to enhance the ribbon effect. Before he can stop himself, Wooyoung's already reaching out his hand, taking the harness between his fingers and fiddling with the tiny silver buckle holding the straps together. 

"How is it?" 

Wooyoung has to gulp and blink a few times before he can answer. "Uh, yeah it looks great. You look- you look really good." 

"Can you tell what I'm going as?" 

"...When you got a financial statement due at 8 but a BDSM party at 9?" Wooyoung laughs, high and breathy. 

He feels the straps shake as Wyatt laughs at his low effort joke. 

"No, although that is a lot more original than what I had, which is secret agent." 

"Oh yeah I can see that now." Wooyoung taps his other hand against the side of his head. "Duh, that was so obvious." 

If Wyatt notices that Wooyoung's fingers are still wrapped around his harness, then he decides to ignore it and continues. 

"Yeah I just need a fake gun to complete the look." 

Wooyoung nods eagerly, leading Wooyoung to the aisle in question. The jubilant smile dancing around Wooyoung's lips starts to slide off as he remembers where exactly the toy guns are located and what an embarrassment it's going to cause him. He pauses in front of the shelves, looking apprehensively up at the guns. Right up on the very tallest bracket, mocking Wooyoung and his 5'8 ass. Sure they're placed there because it's one of the number one items snot-nosed brats love to steal, but have they ever considered that Wooyoung is trying to impress the love of his life? God, what else will capitalism ruin? 

Even so, he grits his teeth and swings his arms, getting ready to stretch up and grab the gun. A gun. He's not being very picky. The momentum hitting just right, he flings his arms up and launches himself, right on his tippy toes. His fingers barely brush up against the cheap plastic before his centre of gravity shifts violently backwards and his neck joints snap crackle and pop like the cereal he wolfed down this morning. He flails his arms and hears a very familiar voice shrieking, "Nooooo!" Then in horror, realises it's his. It feels like he's moving in slow motion until a very warm and solid force stops his descent. 

"You ok?" The low tone reverberates through Wooyoung's back, trickling down his body like honey. 

Wooyoung spins around, trying desperately not to lose his balance again and brushes the hair out of his abnormally warm face. 

"Yeah I'm fine, I just- I guess I just underestimated the distance." 

Wyatt nods solemnly, looking up at the toys with his dark eyebrows furrowed in sympathy. Wooyoung doesn't know whether to laugh or cry at their predicament until out of the corner of his eye, spots a certain figure lumbering past the aisle. 

"Hey! Yunho!" He yells out, clicking his fingers together. "Get over here!" 

"I'm not a dog, don't snap your fingers at me." Yunho's frown of indignation flips maliciously as he follows Wyatt's line of sight to the top of the shelf. 

The stupid grin doesn't leave Yunho's face as he walks leisurely up to the shelf and stretches his arm out. He doesn't even have to fully extend his arm, let alone get up on his toes as he keeps making direct eye contact with Wooyoung. He gets the gun and with a great flourish, places it in Wooyoung's hands. Wooyoung's about to breathe a great sigh of relief until Yunho opens his smug mouth. 

"Want anything else, child? A juice box? Maybe some fruit snacks?" 

God Wooyoung wishes the gun in his hands was real. 

"Hey, keep your chin up king, your crown is falling." Wyatt laughs nervously. 

"It's not like he'd have to bend that far to pick it back up." Yunho snickers, and really, does it matter if the gun is fake? It's still pretty sturdy, could potentially hurt a lot if used correctly. 

Before Wooyoung does anything he'll regret, he starts laughing too. "Haha thank you so much Yunho. You can go now." He grits out from his most customer-service-worthy smile, making a slicing motion across his neck. 

Yunho, being Yunho, throws up a peace sign. "Love you too shorty."

What a job or reputation when sweet, sweet revenge is right in front of Wooyoung? He stares as menacingly as he can towards Yunho before a high-pitched voice rings out, tugging on his work khakis. 

"Scuse me, where are the ghost costumes?" A little girl asks, and Wooyoung's attention is now forcefully redirected to leading her to aisle 14 and discreetly try to find whoever's supposed to be looking out for a 6-year-old in a public setting. 

Count your blessing Yunho, he thinks, looking behind as Wyatt and Yunho wave him off. Their smiles are on opposite ends of the sincerity spectrum, so Wooyoung focuses on Wyatt's for that brief moment before he leaves the aisle and it's back into retail hell once more. 

* * *

It's Saturday again, and Wooyoung can't keep his eyes off the entry to Party City for more than 2 seconds. He keeps miss-scanning items, scans them repeatedly, misses some altogether, but in his defence, it's minimum wage for working at Party City. They should be lucky to have Wooyoung as a staff member. He sighs, head and neck aching from twisting it every chance he can get. What was it called again? Pavlov's Dog? He sure feels like one, about to leap off the ground when any 5'9 Asian guy so much as passes the outside of their store. It's fun though. It's exciting. He hasn't looked forward to something this passionately in such a long time. 

God, he doesn't even know if Wyatt will show up this time. Maybe he's caught up in something. Maybe he's already taken. Maybe he actually hates Wooyoung's guts. The thoughts don't stick, Wooyoung too over the moon to even consider them a realistic possibility. He's no idiot, can see the way his expressions are mirrored through Wyatt's eyes, the way Wyatt flushed red when he made the move to fiddle with his shoulder harness. Or he really could just be an idiot that's thinking too much about. Whatever, the important thing to come out of this whole adventure is that he's having so much fun. He lets himself get carried away again, thinking about the secret agent getup, the white dress shirt clinging to his muscles, the harness wrapping itself around him like it thinks it's Wooyoung. He makes sure Yunho is far away so he can sigh dreamily and not be made fun of. 

He's snapped out of his reverie when his eye catches on someone that's about 5'9, but their hair is much too short, slicked back into a mesmerising curl and undercut with a wicked slit across the left side. Are rebound crushes a thing? Wooyoung can't seem to take his eyes off and then realises too late that the person he's been infatuation-cheating on with Wyatt is none other than the infatuation himself, Wyatt. Wooyoung wants to smack himself for being so damn silly, but also to check if he's not dreaming. The secret agent costume? Wouldn't have been a costume without the harness. Wyatt would've just looked like a businessman. The Michael Jackson Billie Jean tribute? Without the jacket he would've just looked like a casual millennial out dicking around in Party City. The...Wow, Wooyoung never even got what costume that was supposed to be. But take the vest away and Wyatt would've just looked like a dudebro with a strange penchant for shiny pants. The point being, that what Wyatt is currently wearing is immaculate. It's superb. It's flawless.

It's a priest costume and Wooyoung doesn't know whether to laugh or cry or buckle from his weak knees and collapse right there at the counter. The long, gothic undertaker coat flaps and flutter around Wyatt's feet as he strides towards the counter, directly where Wooyoung is. It's like his whole aura has changed into something a bit darker, something a bit more solemn. Wooyoung almost forgets that he's just some really hot guy that's been buying miscellaneous costume accessories. The light catches on the slicked curl of Wyatt's hair and it's unfair, that his hair actually suits any style, highly styled and swept out of the way or long fringe hanging over his eyes. Wooyoung's grip on the countertop tightens considerably when he sees the sharp eyebrow slit on his left side, clean-cut and just begging to be traced by Wooyoung's fingers. Undecorated silver bands on his fingers glint under the fluorescent lighting, white spots dancing around Wooyoung's vision. The light reflects off his thick silver cross, nestled above his smooth, sturdy chest. Wooyoung's mouth has been dry for a while now, tongue feeling like sandpaper grating against his teeth. Wyatt looks like sin, and yes, Wooyoung catches the irony. He looks dark and decadent, black material of his coat stretching over his broad shoulders and back. It doesn't help when his low voice rumbles out like thunder, striking Wooyoung into complete and utter stillness. 

"Hey Wooyoung." 

"...." 

Wyatt responds with a laugh, eyes curling up and scratching shyly at his undercut like it's not his fault that Wooyoung has been struck speechless. 

"It's my best one yet, I think?" He laughs, bashful, and the dark aura around him has shattered, leaving the sweet centre of Wyatt. 

"You think? I know." 

"Thanks, that means a lot, coming from you. But it's not finished yet."

Not finished? That sends Wooyoung reeling. What else could you possibly need? He looks like Wooyoung's repressed Catholic fantasies come to life. Any more and Wooyoung would really pass away and head straight to heaven. Or more likely, hell. 

"It's not just priest theme, it's like, tough, seasoned priest? The point is, I need to look like my ass has been kicked, so I thought, 'Hey, why not get some fake blood and stuff', but that was at the last minute, as always. Silly me." Wyatt finishes, breathless and flushed red like he's just run a marathon. 

"Well you've definitely come to the right place, come with me." Wooyoung probably doesn't look anymore composed, but at least Wyatt's in a cool priest costume instead of the tacky collared shirt of the Party City uniform. 

For the fourth time in this month, he finds himself walking side by side with Wyatt around Party City, smiling and giggling at everything and nothing in particular. Their shoulders bump up together way too many times to be a coincidence, and Wooyoung almost forgets that he's currently working a subpar retail job on a weekend, getting lost in laughing at Wyatt's cheesy jokes and the way his eyes crinkle whenever he beams at something Wooyoung said. 

They get to the makeup and face paint aisles and it's with great reluctance that Wooyoung peels his eyes and attention away to scan the shelves, but he does anyway. He grabs an all-purpose palette with a little bit of white, a little bit of red, a little bit of everything. Minutes always feel like they turn into seconds whenever he's with Wyatt and Wooyoung's already hesitating when he's taking the kit down. God why can't Wyatt come earlier? or actually ask him out on a proper date? It never really occurs to Wooyoung that he's also fully capable of asking Wyatt out, but something else does occur to Wooyoung, which he suddenly blurts out, startling Wyatt. 

"Wait, do you know how to apply face paint? And get a blood and scars effect?" 

Wyatt blinks owlishly at Wooyoung for a few seconds before answering. 

"...No....I was just gonna look up a tutorial video on Youtube beforehand..." 

Wooyoung shakes his head. "Oohh, I don't know how a rushed first-time job is gonna look. It would be a literal sin to ruin this with botched makeup. Not that I think you'd do a bad job but..." 

"I wouldn't even know who to go to for help..." 

And just like that, the pieces fall straight into Wooyoung's hands. 

"You're looking right at them." He turns to face Wyatt head-on, clutching the face paint kit to his chest. "Long story short, I used to do face painting. Slim pickings in the workforce when you decide to take an arts degree... But I digress. I'll do your makeup, and it'll be on the house." He finishes with a wink, ignoring the drizzles of sweat covering his palms. 

"You would do that? For me? Woah are you sure?" 

"Sure I'm sure. It'll beat having to deal with the outside for a change and I haven't been able to paint someone's face in soooo long, you're doing me the favour here." 

Wyatt looks like he's just seen a double- no, triple rainbow, face aglow with extreme happiness and Wooyoung feels so overwhelmed, all that attention just for him, so he turns around and they quickly walk to the back room, away from the crowded outer area of the store. 

"Welcome home." Wooyoung jests, waving a little hand towards the inside. 

It's not even his place and he feels guilty for it being so messy, piles of costumes in boxes and vacuum-sealed plastic bags lying around haphazardly on the floor. It's like a bomb of masks, accessories and decorations went off inside, leaving the tiny room in shambles. Wyatt is ooh-ing and ahh-ing like Wooyoung's just taken him into Narnia instead of their stuffy back room, but it makes Wooyoung feel a bit less self-conscious all the same. He spots the rickety stool and shoves the pumpkin heads off of it, placing it in the centre of the room and gesturing for Wyatt to sit. He obediently sits down, looking up at Wooyoung with wide eyes, eager and waiting, like a golden retriever. 

The illusion of badass from Wyatt's slick, jet black hair and dark clothing is completely shattered now, Wooyoung wanting nothing more than to just pet the guy before him and tell him that he's a good boy, yes he is. Instead, he pops the lid of the kit open and gets to work. He starts off by dabbing a little bit of white paste all over Wyatt's face. The effect is to make him look gaunt, and Wooyoung achieves it, but he still laments over the fact that he has to cover up the glowing melanin of Wyatt's skin. Once he's happy with the effect, he moves on to the eyes. Getting the tiniest bit of grey powder on his pinky finger, and rubbing it between his fingers for good measure, he swipes some on Wyatt's upper and lower eyelids. The impact is instantaneous. 

Golden retriever becomes Siberian husky and Wooyoung is actually too busy metaphorically patting himself on the back to swoon over just how well Wyatt is pulling off the chad goth himbo look. The gratification of a job well done starts to fade as Wooyoung realises the struggle coming up. He has to do the actual blood effects, which would be easy enough. If he were sitting. It was all fine and dandy dabbing on the base and smudging around the eyes while standing up, but something as intricate as fake scars... He doesn't even have his glasses with him, so it's gonna be even shittier. Wooyoung thinks of the awkward angle he's gonna have to crouch at to properly see what he's doing and his back is already creaking in protest. He gnaws at his bottom lip, and Wyatt mirrors the action. 

"What's wrong?" His eyebrows furrow and without thinking, Wooyoung smooths his fingers on the crease between them. 

"I don't know how I'm gonna paint the actual scars. It's a lot harder standing up, and I don't even have my glasses, so it's gonna look really shitty... I'm so sorry for offering when I couldn't even follow throu-" 

Wyatt takes the hand on his brow ridge and squeezes it. "It's fine. It means a lot that you offered, this is already pretty great." 

"Not really, you just look like you haven't eaten or slept in a week." Wooyoung can't help the laugh that slips out. 

"Touché." Wyatt laughs too, then looks around the space like another chair will magically materialise in the minuscule room. 

It's quiet for a bit. Wooyoung test out some of the many cardboard boxes littered around the floor but they all sink flat when he so much as lightly presses down. No way it's gonna be able to take his ass. He looks to Wyatt, who for some reason is blushing a deep red, showing through the pasty white makeup. He's pointedly looking anywhere but Wooyoung, and Wooyoung's about to ask what's wrong when Wyatt speaks up. 

"If you needed somewhere to sit you could sit on my lap? Hahahaha kidding, that was a joke. No, it was definitely harassment... Oh my god." Wyatt rushes out, about to get up until Wooyoung stops him with a firm hand on his shoulder. 

"No, no, that's actually a really good idea. Sit!"

Wooyoung slowly shuffles over to Wyatt. He stands so that he's sandwiching Wyatt's thighs in between his own, effectively trapping Wyatt, then sits. He sits down like the space was made for him, like he belongs there. The blush across Wyatt's face is even stronger up close, bleeding through the white paste which now seems moot at this point. Wooyoung traces the gradient across, streaked across his cheeks to his ears. He holds back a laugh, watching Wyatt do his best to crane his neck to the left, staring intensely at an inexplicable little stain on the concrete floor. Gripping Wyatt's chin, he turns the furnace-hot face towards him. 

"It's better if you face me you know." 

Wyatt, who looks like his eyes are gonna pop out of his head, mutely nods. They're close enough now that Wooyoung can see his eyelashes flutter over, uneven lids trembling as Wyatt stares up at Wooyoung. It's a lot to take in, Wooyoung almost dropping the paint kit from the intensity of his gaze. Wooyoung wobbles a bit on the impromptu seat, only then registering the two hands that have come up to brace against his waist. Wyatt's grip is firm, fingers splayed out to make sure he doesn't fall, but that's probably not the only reason they're there. Wooyoung can only hope that's not the only reason. 

He shivers a bit despite the heat radiating from Wyatt's palms, permeating his uniform. Wooyoung steels his mind, reminding himself that he's just helping him apply face paint and nothing else. He dips the brush into the red face paint and starts applying it to Wyatt's skin. His complexion is so nice, Wooyoung thinks, I need to get his skincare routine after this. The brush sweeps smoothly over his face, pores and pimples almost non-existent and Wooyoung would be jealous if he weren't so awed. He can't tell if he's going really quickly or really slowly, but time seems to disappear all the same and before Wooyoung knows it, he's putting the finishing touches on a particularly gnarly scar, just on Wyatt's mandible. He's ultra proud of that one, wants to take a pic of it before Wyatt leaves. Wooyoung wants to do a lot of things before Wyatt leaves. 

It feels like he's sitting much, much closer than where he started. Wooyoung can't tell if that's his or Wyatt's heart thudding like an overblown bass on rave night. Wyatt's hands are still tightly wrapped around his waist and Wooyoung thinks they're both sweating despite being directly under the seventy degrees aircon. Wooyoung puts the finishing touches on Wyatt's fake wounds, but he still feels antsy and restless, feels like there's something missing. His eyes dart around the three scars he's done and land on Wyatt's plain lips, dry and cakey from the base. 

"Do you want some blood on your mouth too?" 

Wyatt's eyes shoot open. They didn't even need to be closed. Wooyoung wasn't doing anything around his eyes, and he told Wyatt that much, but Wyatt still insisted, ears glowing red, that he had to close them for his sake. 

"Yeah, if you're cool with that." 

Wooyoung just smiles as his hand moves to cup the bare side of Wyatt's jaw and he presses the brush against full lips, bouncing right back up like lychee jelly. Wooyoung swallows thickly as he steadies his hand and traces delicate lines of red down Wyatt's bottom lip to simulate a bloodied mouth. The thudding between their bodies starts to quicken, Wooyoung's face burning with all the blood that's rushing through. 

It doesn't feel like it's his own body, when he drops the thin brush and palette, hands coming up to clutch at Wyatt's shoulders as Wyatt gathers him further into his own lap and they're doing what Wooyoung's wanted to do ever since he bumped heads with this perfect stranger 3 weeks ago. The kiss is slow and tentative at first. For all their eagerness going in it's now turned soft and careful, like they're testing each other's waters out. Wooyoung can taste the fake blood on his lips and prays to god that the non-toxic label on the palette's lid is authentic. Wyatt's cautious, but he's impatient too, already licking at Wooyoung's lips and trying to coax Wooyoung's mouth open like there was ever any doubt Wooyoung was going to accept. 

He opens his mouth and they lap at each other, languid and playful. Wooyoung thanks whatever higher power is out there that compels him to down a tinful of mints during his shift. It's warm and slightly sweet in Wyatt's mouth, and Wooyoung knows he can't possibly get any closer to Wyatt, but he's definitely going to try. His hands come up to curl around Wyatt's nape at the same time Wyatt slides his hands up Wooyoung's back and he moans into the other's mouth, sound waves reverberating between their lips. He feels like he's melting, nothing in his head except needing to kiss Wyatt, pull him closer, hold him tighter. Every second before this was wasted, not making out with Wyatt, Wooyoung thinks to himself as he sucks on the tip of Wyatt's tongue, already starting to rub himself on-

*THUD*

Wooyoung whips his head up and makes direct eye contact with Yunho, who is currently standing stock still at the door of their storage room, and oh yeah Wooyoung's currently supposed to be working. Whoops. The first thing Yunho does is put his head in his hands. And he says Wooyoung's dramatic. 

It's Wyatt who breaks the silence. "Uhhh, should I-"

"It's fine." Wooyoung drawls, rolling his eyes as he pushes off from Wyatt's lap, straightening out his shirt. 

"You guys are done right? I can lift my head up now?" Yunho asks but he looks anyway, unabashed disdain all over his tired face. 

Wyatt picks the discarded makeup kit from the ground and stands up, pushing various bills into Wooyoung's hand. 

"I should probably be going now..."

"Yeah." Wooyoung and Yunho reply at the same time, which prompts them to start staring at each other like they're in a Mexican standoff. There are a bunch of toy guns scattered around, reminding Wooyoung of Yunho's tomfoolery like they want him to kick Yunho's ass. 

Wyatt shuffles out of the storeroom, trying to flatten himself against the wall while Wooyoung and Yunho continue to death stare each other. Wooyoung watches Wyatt leave out of the corner of his eye and belatedly realises that he never even got to take a photo of his bitchin' face paint job. 

"Look at yourself dude." Yunho shoves his phone in Wooyoung's face, where he eyes his reflection on the black screen, red paint smudged all over his lips. "You look like you just ate out Elmo."

Wooyoung makes a strangled noise. "Why would you say that? You're disgusting!"

"More disgusting than the person caught grinding on a random in the back room of Party City?" Yunho throws a wet wipe on Wooyoung's face before walking out. "Get it together Wooyoung." 

"He's not a random..." Wooyoung whines to no one but himself as he reluctantly wipes at his kissed-red mouth. 

* * *

"Ooohhh, which white food r u?" 

"No more Yeosang, if I have to read another question with songs and lyrics I've never heard of in my life I will shit my own work khakis right here." 

Yeosang shrugs, deciding to ignore the last part of Wooyoung's complaint. "Your loss. I hope I get potato salad with raisins." 

Wooyoung says he's done, but he still watches Yeosang do his 15th uquiz since he started his shift. Working with Yeosang isn't like working at all, which should be a concern to higher management, but definitely not to Wooyoung. He wishes more of his shifts were with Yeosang, but alas, the only reason they're even together today in the first place is because Jongho begged Wooyoung to swap with him for just this shift. Wooyoung forgets why, but he was free and he missed Yeosang so he agrees to the switch. 

After Yeosang gets the exact result he predicted, as he usually did, he snaps up and announces that he's going to the bathroom. Wooyoung, being the upstanding Party City employee he is, decides to get off his ass while Yeosang's gone and heads to the change rooms again to clear them of bare coat hangers and loose costume parts. The hairs on his neck prickle as he gets a strange sense of déjà vu while folding the clothes. Wouldn't it be just terrible, absolutely awful if he was putting the neatly folded clothes back and a certain someone bumped into him and he dropped them, causing him to bend over to pick them up and oh no, bump heads with said someone.... 

"...that is so trite." 

It really kind of is huh...Wait what the hell? Wooyoung whips his head around to find the source of the magical thought-finisher and promptly wants to scream when he locates it. It's Wyatt, and for the first time since Wooyoung's met him, he's wearing regular, normal, not-costume clothes. Wooyoung doesn't realise his jaw is open until he realises he has to close it to gulp. Wyatt in plain clothes strikes Wooyoung right at his core. It's just a tan, checkered blazer over a white shirt and grey jeans. It's nothing compared to the excessiveness of his last few outfits. Maybe it's the way the colour makes his melanin glow. Maybe it's the way he actually looks comfortable in it. Maybe Wooyoung is just so whipped that he thinks whatever Wooyoung wears is show-stopping. 

He's so busy drinking in casual wear Wyatt that he nearly misses the other guy with him, almost a head shorter. He has fiery, dyed-red hair and sharp eyes that stick out from the rest of his soft features. Wooyoung's first impression is cute. Awfully cute. Almost unbearably so. He's so small and compact next to Wyatt. They look so good together. Wooyoung narrows his eyes at that thought. Are they dating? Holy shit is Wyatt a fuckboy? The thought of being the other guy makes Wooyoung's blood boil and he's just about to jump out from his hiding spot until he catches the rest of their conversation. 

"You mean it's fate? He's literally the love of my life Hyojin, you would never understand."

"Yeah, I don't understand." The other guy, or 'Hyojin', as Wyatt called him, replies brusquely. He swings around the witch hat in his hands, shaking his head at Wyatt. "Why you couldn't just come in and talk to him like a normal person instead of parading around in costumes for parties that aren't even real is beyond me." 

'Parties that aren't real'..... The cogs in Wooyoung's head are racing as he tries his best to follow them down from the aisle next to them.

"Shut up, I heard it's weird and rude to ask someone in service industries out while they're working, cause it's their job to pretend to be nice to you. I obviously needed a reason to be here. Besides, I'm pretty sure he liked my fits." 

"He liked your fits because, as you said, it's his job to pretend to be nice to you. He's not six Wyatt, how could you even think this would work?"

"Shut up. My master plan turned out perfect."

"And what would your master plan have been if it weren't October?" 

"..." 

Hyojin rolls his eyes so hard Wooyoung's worried he's gonna pop them out of his sockets. 

Wyatt viciously pouts at Hyojin. "Seriously, it was fate then, that all these events aligned. Pretty sure it was because I came in the priest outfit and needed makeup that we ended up making out in the back room so there." He ends by sticking his tongue out at Hyojin and Wooyoung has to do his best to stifle a giggle. 

"Good. For. You." Hyojin enunciates each word, lacing them with such sarcasm and insincerity that Wooyoung thinks he can feel the temperature drop a couple of degrees. 

"You're judging me," Wyatt sniffs, "like you and Seungjoon didn't go ham with your weird little Harley Quinn-cop roleplay. Which by the way, read the room Hyojin, ACAB." 

"Well actually the whole bastard thing played into that specific dynamic and- wait a fucking minute, Seungjoon told you about that?"

"I sincerely, truly wish he didn't."

Hyojin scrunches his tiny fist up. "That little motormouth. When I get my hands on him..."

"Yeah yeah, let us not pop a stiffy in Party City ok?"

Hyojin turns his little nose up at that. "What, like you did a few days ago?" 

Wooyoung watches Wyatt's face go red just as he feels his own cheeks heat up at the memory. Hyojin points a small finger at Wyatt and laughs, high and hearty. The envy in Wooyoung's chest smoulders. Hyojin and Wyatt are just friends, thank the Lord. Wooyoung breathes a sigh of relief and continues to eavesdrop on their conversation, seeing if he can glean any other helpful pieces of information on Wyatt. 

"I can't believe you bought all this stuff though, what are you gonna do with all these damn accessories?" 

"I don't know? Do a secret agent theme for your birthday." He whines.

"I'm not indulging you, and I'm 26, not a chance I'm holding a freaking secret agent themed birthday." 

"Priest theme?" 

Hyojin pauses to whack Wyatt on the back and Wooyoung winces. It sounds like the crack of a whip, echoing menacingly throughout the store and Wooyoung is getting terrified of the small but menacing man Wyatt has brought into Party City. 

"Whatever, you could try and combine all of your costumes together for Minkyun's Halloween thing." 

"Actually..... I'm gonna try and ask Wooyoung out to that, so obviously I need something entirely new. It's gonna be real cool and smooth and he's gonna say yes." 

Hyojin's rebuttal flies through one ear and out the other as Wooyoung's heart seems to stutter in its place when he hears that. He fist-bumps the air as quietly as he can, but inside his head it's confetti and fireworks and blaring air horns. Wooyoung feels like he could jump straight up onto the moon, adrenaline of happiness vigorously coursing through his body. Wyatt is going to ask him out. Wooyoung wasn't in his head and crazy thinking that Wyatt was interested in him. He clasps his hands together, promising in his head to go and take San to the best steak house in the city sometime. He continues to tail them until Hyojin pays for his stuff and they both leave, where he proceeds to jump onto a very startled Yeosang. 

"Wyatt's gonna ask me out! Wyatt's gonna ask me out!"

"I got no idea what's going on but good for you!" Yeosang cheers, jumping up and down with Wooyoung. 

They spend the rest of the day like that, cracking open party poppers and bags of cheap discount candy. Who cares if it's store property? It's a celebration! 

* * *

It's the final Saturday of the month. The day before Halloween. For someone who was basically up all night, you'd think Wooyoung had caffeine injected directly into his veins. He runs around, juggling the hoards of teens buying beer pong cups by the dozen that they most definitely will not fill with alcohol and frazzled parents with about a million different requirements and requests for healthy(?????) candy and CPSIA approved decorations. His plastic customer-service smile is practically a mask, frozen on his face. Under it is a genuine one, itching to break out the more Wooyoung thinks about what's going down today. 

At some point in his miserable shift, Wyatt is going to swoop in and save his tired ass. Because make no mistake, Wooyoung is ready to collapse on the floor, the one and only thing holding his strength and sanity together being the thought of Wyatt finally asking him out, instead of this confusing back and forth they've been doing at Party City for the last month. He's going to get a guy, and his number, and his hand to hold and his lips to kiss and the thought fuels him through another round of vague back and forth-ing with an old lady who just keeps going on and on about her grandkids. 

It's already late, but Wooyoung can only tell from checking his phone every five minutes. He feels like a packet of pop rocks, buzzing with anticipation. The closer it gets to closing time the worse it gets, and just like pop rocks themselves, the more he starts to sour. What if Wyatt was kidding? What if he can't make it? What if he changed his mind. Wooyoung kind of feels like throwing up, made worse by the need to fall over and get some actual sleep. Yunho gets so alarmed that in a rare show of camaraderie, he offers to watch the store by himself and let Wooyoung nap in the back room, but no way Wooyoung can do that. Nap, and possibly miss this golden opportunity? 

He bats Yunho's suggestion away and continues to serve on autopilot. The customers become a blur in Wooyoung's glassy-eyed stare as the day drags on into the night. Maybe it won't be so bad to just blink his eyes. Halfway. And keep them at halfway for a tiny bit. Wooyoung flings open his eyes as soon as he's aware his head is fully plastered against the countertop. He quickly wipes at his mouth for any drool and looks up at the register for the time. Instead, he finds himself coming face to face with Wyatt. 

"Hi." 

"Hey." 

Wyatt blinks at him. Wooyoung blinks back. Wyatt is in casual wear again today. Wooyoung stares, then he remembers to breathe and speaks. 

"I'm guessing you're not late for anything this time? Unless the theme is model?" 

Wyatt laughs in response, warm and soft, like the Aqua Grey turtleneck he's wearing that Wooyoung wants to bury his face in. 

"Yeah, we got all the time in the world now." 

_We._ Wooyoung starts laughing and doesn't notice as Yunho rolls his eyes and leaves the counter to do whatever it is Yunho does. 

"What brings you in today then?" 

"Well I uh, I actually found some stuff. Your co-worker, Yunho helped me out. I didn't want to disturb your sleep." Wyatt rubs at his reddish nose. "It must've been really busy huh?" 

"Yeah." Wooyoung looks down at the counter, and true to Wyatt's word, he looks down and there, on the counter are two matching sets of white navy costumes. He feels his skin prickle with anticipation, and if he's being honest, a little cringe, but it's ok. He didn't fall for Wyatt for his superb costume-picking skills. 

Wooyoung cocks a coy eyebrow. "Two sets?" 

Wyatt simply leans his elbow on the counter, smug smile plastered all over his face. The evil part of Wooyoung wants to reject Wyatt just to see his reaction, but he'd probably end up crying afterwards, so he just leans forward on his elbows too. 

"It's for a date. A Halloween party tomorrow."

"Lucky~ The power you two are gonna hold. Best looking couple for sure." 

"Oh, and how do you know that?" 

Wooyoung's smile grows wider. "I trust in your taste. But shouldn't they try it on first? Costumes like these are a real bitch if they don't fit."

If Wyatt's grin grew any smarmier, Wooyoung might actually have to reject him out of principle. Instead of rolling his eyes he looks down at the costumes in question. 

"What a coincidence. I was just going to ask you about that. Y'see, that person just so happens to be your exact height and build."

"What a coincidence indeed." Wooyoung sing-songs, deciding that if Wyatt's gonna toy around with him, then he might as well have some fun too. "Are they as cute as me though?" 

Wooyoung has to forcibly bite back a laugh, can practically see Wyatt's smile slide clean off his face like a water drop. Several seconds of silence pass as Wooyoung eagerly anticipates just how Wyatt will respond to his set-up. He imagines a bunch of cogs turning in Wyatt's head, would feel slightly sorry for the guy if he weren't currently relishing in the moment. 

"I...actually don't know." 

That throws Wooyoung off guard. 

"I haven't asked them yet." All traces of banter is gone from Wyatt's voice, and Wooyoung suddenly feels way too nervous when he looks up. 

He's met with dark brown eyes, filled with warm sincerity. Wooyoung feels embarrassed looking right into them, but can't seem to tear his eyes away. There's a definite shift in mood and Wooyoung, for all his pining and yearning, finds himself extremely unprepared. 

"Well you're gonna have to ask them soon. It's tomorrow isn't it?" It comes out soft, almost a whisper. 

"Yeah. I do." 

Wooyoung is so glad he's leaning on the counter, because his legs are basically useless at this point. They're so close that Wooyoung can see Wyatt's eye mole, can smell the clean scent of fabric softener and something sweeter. He can even see the way his Adam's Apple bobs up and down into his turtleneck. 

"Wooyoung, do you want to- are you free on- what are your plan-" Wyatt stutters through his question, and Wooyoung would let him finish, he really would. But that would mean he'd have to wait, and Wooyoung thinks he's waited long enough. 

"Holy shit yes Wyatt. I'll go to the Halloween thing with you. I'll go to Thanksgiving with you. I'll go to Christmas, New Year's, Seotdal Geumem. Whatever else there is. Even if there's no holiday. Yes." He finishes, breathless. Wooyoung can't tell if it's because of the lack of sleep, the general exhaustion of retail work, or because he's so close, because they're so close.

"...Wow, did you plan that? Like I even wrote down a thing but I forgot it, and you just made that up on the spot?" Wyatt weakly chuckles, staring at Wooyoung with sparkling eyes. 

Wooyoung surges forward. It's just a simple brush of lips, but it feels final, resolute. They've got all the time in the world to do more anyway, and not just during shifts at Party City. Wooyoung leans back and points at the costumes. 

"Ok first thing's first. This brand? Super poor quality, we are going to end up with rashes 5 seconds after putting these on. C'mere, this is the brand that actually feels the closest to real clothes." He takes the costumes in one hand and loops the other arm around Wyatt's, dragging him away from the counter. 

"Remind me to never go to any other Party City in the world from now on." 

Wooyoung laughs, as he always does with Wyatt, and clutches tighter at his arm. Thank God he decided to take the stupid Saturday shift.

**Author's Note:**

> i am so, really, very, extremely sorry that i wrote this.
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/wrenlans)


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